first customer build. help plz!

jordan_frerichs · #1 11-13-2008, 04:25 PM

doing my first build. this is for my science teacher. the design i kind of an oddball, and we only finalized it today. i did do some work for the neck since iu knew more how that was supposed to be. over all, even though this build 2.5 (have another in progress) i am confidant in my abilities, as many of the odd details, mainly have to do with the looks.
here are the specs:
34" scale 4 string
uniqe shaped chambered single cut neck through.
chrome hardware
bloodwood/maple melted top with designs carved into it
chambered mahogony core
walnut/maple/bloodwood/maple/walnut graphite reinforced neck
gallery hardwoods qs bloodwood fb
musicman pickup with wood cover. passive vol, vol, tone, series/parallel
wish bass tuner placement (center of headstockl will not be completely hollow.) will need help on hoiw to do this.

i think i got the melted top method down. updates pics, and questions to come. right now the main q is how do i do the wish baSS head.

erikbojerik · #2 11-13-2008, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordan_frerichs

wish bass tuner placement (center of headstockl will not be completely hollow.) will need help on how to do this.

The headstock needs to be way thicker than normal - I would go with Gotoh Ultralights for that, they have a fairly narrow profile on the gear and you can get them with a 1/2" diameter post rather than 5/8". Just turn them 90° and there you are.

Definitely make a mock headstock or two out of scrap or pine before committing to the instrument - because its a neck-thru, if you bugger up the headstock, you'll have to start the entire instrument over from scratch.

jordan_frerichs · #3 11-13-2008, 09:43 PM

wow. was already planing to use those tuners, before i even thought of doing the head this way. that is a good plan. i can get endless pine from the school. so, thcker. does that mean addition wood on top back, both, or does it matter? how thick?

jordan_frerichs · #4 11-17-2008, 09:53 PM

got the "blueprints" for the headstock. going to work on a template for the headstock. sized up the neck blank. cuts short just a little. i will make a laminatethe same as the neck, and sarf joint it at the body, to add a little length. i will glue a top over it, to hide it. the truss rod is to be accessable at the body, and the neck to have carbon reinforcement. i have not done either before. any advice? pics soon.

dblbass · #5 11-18-2008, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordan_frerichs

, and sarf joint it at the body

...?
scarf joint it at the body... why is that?

jordan_frerichs · #6 11-18-2008, 05:48 PM

to add extra inches, the shool hass thick walnut, so all i need to do is add the lamines, glue, and level. the bloodwood for the top/back is heaviler than expected, but the 3/4" mahogony cor is light. i will chamber channels with the grain, in certain areas on the body laminates. the shape is simalar to the hollowbody i am making (link in the sig), only, the upper horn and lower horn, are unique and organic (they were redrawn by the customer himself, and i like it very much) qs bloodwood boards (gallery) in the mail, hopfully arriving tomarrow, as they are in the next state last time i checked. pics tomarrow, if i remember to take the camera to woodshop class.

jordan_frerichs · #7 12-07-2008, 05:35 PM

we decided to make the neck glued in, instead of neck through, and have changed the body wood to ash, whitch is currently in the mail. no carbon fiber rods.
the next step will be to add a truss channel. pics soon

joeyl · #8 12-08-2008, 06:46 AM

hey Jordan, where are the pics man? I want to see it!

jordan_frerichs · #9 12-08-2008, 06:23 PM

i think i may have to try and upload them through my brothers laptop. thats been my main pc and will be, until the main pc is up and running.

jordan_frerichs · #10 12-22-2008, 03:50 PM

the body is at school, so no pics until break is over. i glued the ash up using the trick i learned from wilsers ash gluejoint thread, wich would be book (split) matching the end grain, so that it loks more like a one piece. cut it out on the band saw, then planed it (wouldn't fit in the planer till i took off some waste from the sides). after i got the shape redrawn, i took it to the giant stationary belt sander. one the little curves that i could not get into, i took it back to the bandsaw, and not so much cut them out, and gently let the blade chew at them untill they where where right. now i just need to clean them up. i think i will make templates for those areas, and clean them up m the body, with a router. we decided to put 2 cheap music man pickups in, and wire them passive. since he don't have an amp yet, it would be pointless to sink a wad into the electronics for now.

still to be done: make the melted top (going to use templates and router, or scroll saw), chambner the body, make cutouts in the top, glue the top round the edges, make pup covers, route for pickups, and a good deal of neck work.

Mikey R · #11 12-22-2008, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordan_frerichs

...and a good deal of neck work.

is that like headbanging?

jordan_frerichs · #12 12-22-2008, 11:00 PM

naw, i prefer the mosh pit

jordan_frerichs · #13 01-01-2009, 10:16 PM

pics. not much for now.

bookmatching the top, and the open head template.

jordan_frerichs · #14 02-05-2009, 07:53 PM

ran into a problem. the blood pieces of the became very cupped. didn't want to go any thinner, so my teacher told me to through the pieces into the sink, soak them and clamp them to a flat surface. we did that and the piece started to crack. i unclamped it the next day, and it didn't do much to fix the warp. i soaked them for longer, about 15 minutes, and tried it again, putting small piece of oak under it. more cracks. stil don't know if it helped. how do i flatten a warped piece without taking away any thickness? how do i repair cracks?

aside from that i have the ash body cutout. also the neck blank. next, aside from making the melted top, is cutting the truss rod, and starting the shape of the headstock, and then gluing the fingerboard.

jordan_frerichs · #15 02-16-2009, 09:31 PM

i have been almost ignoring this one, so now its time to catch it up with the other build.
open headstock rough cut.

now it is cleaned up, and truss rod channel is made. i am going to drill it soon also, the customer decided instead of making it 100% open, that the inside be carved at the bottom. i plan to use a drill press, establish the depest point, drill there and then continue, with decreasing depths, the clean it up with chiseles and sandpaper. i saw an archtop made the same way